Single antenna sharing for multiple wireless connections

ABSTRACT

A wireless device includes: a first radio and first transceiver configured to transmit and receive according to a first radio access technology; a second radio and second transceiver configured to transmit and receive according to a second radio access technology; a first antenna and a second antenna connected to the first radio and the second radio; a switch; and a control unit configured to control the switch to configure connections of the first and second antennas to the first and second radios. The control unit is configured to control the switch to disconnect the second radio from the second antenna in response to a receiving, by the second radio through the second antenna, a signal that is below a predetermined threshold, and to connect the second radio to the first antenna during a wakeup period of the second radio.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/215,128 entitled “Single Antenna Sharing For Multiple WirelessConnections” filed Mar. 17, 2014, the entirety of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Antenna switching can be used to improve the performance of a wirelesscommunication device (also referred to herein as a “user equipment” or“UE”). It is especially useful for handheld devices as they may suffersignificant performance degradation when the antenna is blocked. In someextreme cases, wireless communications can be completely stopped as aconsequence of a blocked antenna. If the UE only supports one radio at agiven moment, the performance degradation problem can be mitigated bythe conventional switching strategy of switching primarytransmit/receive functions to an antenna that is not blocked. However,if the UE supports multiple radios simultaneously, for example GlobalSystem for Mobile telecommunications (GSM) and Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (WCDMA) radios, a significant drawback of such knownswitching strategies is that even with such switching, one radio maystill be unusable as a result of a blocked antenna.

SUMMARY

Wireless devices, systems, and methods for antenna switching in awireless device are provided.

According to a first aspect a wireless device may include: a first baseband processor of a first radio access technology and a firsttransceiver configured to transmit and receive according to a firstradio access technology; a second base band processor of a second radioaccess technology and a second transceiver configured to transmit andreceive according to a second radio access technology; a first antennaand a second antenna, each configurable to connect to the firsttransceiver and the second transceiver; a switch coupled with the firstradio and the second radio; and a control unit configured to control theswitch to configure connections of the first and second antennas to thefirst and second transceivers.

In this aspect, the control unit may be configured to control the switchto disconnect the second transceiver from the second antenna in responseto receiving a signal by the second radio that is below a predeterminedthreshold, maintain the first radio in its current mode, and connect thesecond transceiver to the first antenna during a wakeup period of thesecond radio.

According to another aspect a method of antenna switching in a wirelessdevice may include: determining whether a signal received through anantenna assigned to a second radio access technology falls below apredetermined threshold; disconnecting the second radio accesstechnology from its assigned antenna in response to the received signalfalling below the predetermined threshold; maintaining a first radioaccess technology in its current mode; and connecting the second radioaccess technology to an antenna assigned to the first radio accesstechnology during a wakeup period of the second radio access technology.

According to another aspect a wireless device may include: a first radioconfigured to transmit and receive according to a first radio accesstechnology; a second radio configured to transmit and receive accordingto a second radio access technology; a first antenna and a secondantenna; a switch configured to connect each of the first radio and thesecond radio to one of the first antenna and a second antenna; and acontrol unit configured to control the switch to configure connectionsof the first and second antennas to the first and second transceivers.In this aspect, the control unit may control the switch to disconnectthe second radio from the second antenna in response to receiving by thesecond radio through the second antenna a signal that is below apredetermined threshold, set the second radio to idle mode if the secondradio is not in idle mode, and disconnect the first radio from the firstantenna and connect the second radio to the first antenna during awakeup period of the second radio.

According to another aspect a wireless device may include a first baseband processor of a first radio access technology and a firsttransceiver configured to transmit and receive according to the firstradio access technology, a second base band processor of a second radioaccess technology and second transceiver configured to transmit andreceive according to the second radio access technology, a first antennaand a second antenna, connected to the first transceiver and the secondtransceiver, respectively, a switch coupled with the first and secondbase band processors and the first and second transceivers, and acontrol unit configured to control the switch to configure connectionsof the first and second transceivers to the first and second base bandprocessors. In this aspect, the control unit controls the switch todisconnect the second base band processor from the second transceiver inresponse to receiving by the second base band processor through thesecond antenna a signal that is below a predetermined threshold, set thesecond base band processor to idle mode if the second base bandprocessor is not in idle mode, and disconnect the first base bandprocessor from the first transceiver, connects the second base bandprocessor to the first transceiver, and configures the first transceiveraccording to the second radio access technology during a wakeup periodof the second base band processor.

According to another aspect a communication system may include: aplurality of radio access technology networks; and one or more wirelessdevices, each device of the plurality of devices communicating with atleast one of the plurality of radio access technology networks, aplurality of antennas equipped on a device, each assigned to at leastone radio access technology; and a control unit configured to controlconnections of the plurality of radio access technologies to theplurality of antennas. In this aspect, the control unit may control aswitch to disconnect the first radio access technology from its assignedantenna in response to a first radio access technology of the pluralityof radio access technologies through its assigned antenna from one ofthe communication networks associated with the first radio accesstechnology receiving a signal that is below a predetermined threshold,and connect the first radio access technology to share an antennaassigned to second radio access technology of the plurality of radioaccess technologies while maintaining the connection of the second radioaccess technology in current mode to its assigned antenna, and set thefirst radio access technology to idle mode if the first radio accesstechnology is not in idle mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitutepart of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of theinvention, and together with the general description given above and thedetailed description given below, serve to explain the features of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a wireless device according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a wireless device according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for antenna selection in adual-radio wireless device according to various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for antenna selection in adual-radio wireless device according to various embodiments of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presentedby way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope ofprotection. The apparatuses, methods, and systems described herein maybe embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions,substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods andsystems described herein may be made without departing from the scope ofprotection.

The present inventive concept provides apparatuses, systems, and methodsfor using one viable antenna for two radios when the other antenna isblocked on a wireless device.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a wireless device according toan example embodiment of the present inventive concept. Referring toFIG. 1, a wireless device 100 includes a first antenna 105 and a secondantenna 110. The first antenna 105 and the second antenna 110 arecoupled to a first radio frequency (RF) switch 115. The first RF switch115 is operable to couple the first antenna 105 and the second antenna110 to first and second RF transceivers 150, 155. The first transceiver150 receives signals from and supplies signals to a base band processor160 of a first radio access technology (also referred to as a firstradio), such a GSM radio access technology. The second transceiver 155receives signals from and supplies signals to a base band processor 165of a second radio access technology (also referred to as a secondradio), such as a WCDMA radio access technology.

A control unit 170 controls operations of the wireless device 100including, but not limited to, determination of acceptable receivedsignal quality (for example, but not limited to reference signalreceived power (RSRP), received signal code power (RSCP), receivedsignal strength indicator (RSSI), and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)),radio control, antenna switching, etc.). The control unit 170 may be aprogrammable device implemented as, for example, but not limited to, aprocessor configured with processor-executable instructions, applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC)/field programmable gate array (FPGA),or dedicated hardware.

In the example embodiments illustrated in FIG. 1, if a blocked antenna(e.g., the second antenna 110) results in the received signal fallingbelow a predetermined threshold, or if there are pending events such asfailing S-criteria, neighbor cell search or frequency scan, triggered byweak reception and/or radio link failure (RLF), for example as a resultof attenuation at the antenna caused by the position of a user's hand onthe wireless device, control of the first RF switch 115 allowstransmit/receive (Tx/Rx) operation of one of the GSM or WCDMA radioaccess technology base band processor 160, 165 and receive (Rx)operation of the other radio access technology base band processor usingthe viable first antenna 105.

A radio may be in idle mode or active mode. In idle mode, a radioreceives but does not transmit signals. In active mode, a radio receivesand transmits signals. A radio may be set to idle mode from active modedue to low signal quality (low SNR) or low signal strength (low RSSI,RSRP, RSCP etc.) and/or decoding failures of broadcast channel (BCH) orpaging channel (PCH), etc.

When sharing the viable antenna, the radio that experienced the outageon its designated antenna will tune away to the newly shared antennausing information acquired before the outage, including timing andfrequency offset observed in the down link (DL) signal, radio networktemporary identifier (RNTI), cell ID etc.

Tune away occurs only during the idle mode radio's wake-up periods.During tune away, the RF switch 115 may be configured to disconnect thetransceiver of one radio access technology from the viable antenna andconnect the transceiver of the other radio access technology to theviable antenna. For example, assuming the second antenna 110 is blocked,the WCDMA radio access technology base band processor 165 may be set toidle mode if it was previously in active mode. The control unit 170 mayconfigure the RF switch 115 to disconnect the first transceiver (alsoreferred to as the WCDMA transceiver) 155 from the blocked antenna 110.

During a wakeup period of the WCDMA radio access technology base bandprocessor 165, the control unit 170 may configure the RF switch 115 todisconnect the second transceiver (also referred to as the GSMtransceiver) 150 from the viable antenna 105 and connect the WCDMAtransceiver 155 to the viable antenna 105. At the end of the WCDMA radioaccess technology base band processor 165 wakeup period, the controlunit 170 may configure the RF switch 115 to disconnect the WCDMA radioaccess technology base band processor 165 from the viable antenna 105and reconnect the GSM transceiver 150 to the viable antenna 105.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a wireless device according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure. In FIG. 2, elements that are thesame as those in FIG. 1 are denoted with like reference numerals andserve like functions. Elements of the example embodiment illustrated inFIG. 1 that are not included in the example embodiment of FIG. 2 are notillustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, a second switch 215 is operable to couple a signalreceived by the first antenna 105 output by the first transceiver 150 toeither the first radio access technology (in this example, the GSM radioaccess technology base band processor 160) or the second radio accesstechnology (in this example, the WCDMA radio access technology base bandprocessor 165). One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thatthe second switch 215 may be configured to couple signals to eitherradio access technology from either antenna without departing from thescope of the present inventive concept.

If a received signal falls below a predetermined threshold, or if thereare pending events such as failing S-criteria, neighbor cell search, orfrequency scan, triggered by weak reception and/or RLF because oneantenna is blocked (e.g., the second antenna 110), control of the secondswitch 215 allows transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) operation of one of the GSMor WCDMA radio access technologies in the active mode and receive (Rx)operation of the other radio access technology in the idle mode duringtune away using the viable first antenna 105.

Tune away occurs only during the idle mode radio access technology'swake-up periods. During tune away, the second switch 215 will beconfigured to disconnect one radio access technology from the viableantenna and connect the other radio access technology to the viableantenna. For example, assuming the second antenna 110 is blocked, theWCDMA radio access technology base band processor 165 may be set to idlemode if it was previously in active mode. The control unit 170 mayconfigure the second switch 215 to disconnect the WCDMA radio accesstechnology base band processor 165 from the WCDMA transceiver 155,thereby disconnecting the WCDMA radio access technology base bandprocessor 165 from the blocked antenna 110.

During a wakeup period of the WCDMA radio access technology base bandprocessor 165, the control unit 170 may configure the second switch 215to disconnect the GSM radio access technology base band processor 160from the GSM transceiver 150 connected to the viable antenna 105, andconnect the WCDMA radio access technology base band processor 165 to theGSM transceiver 150, which is connected to the viable antenna 105. Thecontrol unit 170 may reconfigure the GSM transceiver 150 to permit theWCDMA radio access technology base band processor 165 to receive signalsfrom the WCDMA network.

At the end of the WCDMA radio access technology base band processor 165wakeup period, the control unit 170 may configure the second switch 215to disconnect the WCDMA radio 165 from the GSM transceiver 150, which isconnected to the viable antenna 105, and reconnect the GSM transceiver150 to the GSM radio access technology base band processor 160. Thecontrol unit 170 may reconfigure the GSM transceiver 150 to tune back tothe GSM network.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for antenna selection in adual-radio wireless device according to various embodiments of thedisclosure. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, the wireless device 100receives GSM and WCDMA signals on the separate antennas 105, 110 (310).

The control unit 170 may determine that the signal received on one ofthe antennas (in this example, the second antenna 110) falls below apredetermined threshold for acceptable reception due to, for example,but not limited to, low signal strength (RSRP, RSCP, etc.) and/ordecoding failures of BCH or PCH, etc. (320). Low received signalstrength may result from, for example, attenuation at the antenna causedby the position of a user's hand on the wireless device.

If the signal received on one of the antennas (in this example, thesecond antenna 110) falls below a predetermined threshold, the controlunit 170 configures the RF switch 115 to disconnect the transceiver ofthe radio access technology (in this example, the WCDMA transceiver 155)assigned to the second antenna 110 from that antenna (325) and sets theradio access technology to idle mode if the radio is not already in idlemode while the other radio access technology (in this example, the GSMradio access technology base band processor 160) remains in its currentmode (330).

During a wakeup period of the WCDMA radio access technology base bandprocessor 165 (“BB Processor” in the drawings) the control unit 170configures the first RF switch 115 to disconnect the transceiver 150 forthe GSM radio access technology from the viable first antenna 105 andconnect the transceiver 155 for the WCDMA radio access technology to theviable first antenna 105 (340).

The WCDMA radio 165 receives signals from the WCDMA network on the newlyshared antenna using information acquired before the outage, includingtiming and frequency offset observed in the DL signal, RNTI, cell IDetc. At the end of the WCDMA radio access technology wakeup period, thecontrol unit 170 configures the RF switch 115 to disconnect thetransceiver 155 for the WCDMA radio access technology from the viableantenna 105 and reconnect the transceiver 150 for the GSM radio accesstechnology to the viable antenna 105 (350).

While sharing the viable first antenna 105, if the WCDMA transceiver 155and radio access technology base band processor 165 receive signals withacceptable signal quality, i.e., signals having adequate power forreception, during a wakeup period (360-Y), the control unit 170configures the first RF switch 115 to couple the WCDMA transceiver 155and radio access technology base band processor 165 to receive on thenon-shared second antenna 110 during the next wakeup period (370). Ifthe WCDMA transceiver 155 and radio access technology base bandprocessor 165 receive signals with acceptable signal quality on thenon-shared second antenna 110 during the next wakeup period (380-Y), theWCDMA transceiver 155 and radio access technology base band processor165 resume normal operation on the non-shared second antenna 110 (390).

Otherwise (380-N), the control unit 170 configures the first RF switch115 to couple the WCDMA radio 165 to receive on the viable first antenna105 (340) during the next WCDMA radio access technology base bandprocessor 165 wakeup period and antenna sharing continues. In someembodiments, if the received signal quality of the active mode radio ismarginal (below the predetermined threshold, but above a secondpredetermined threshold), for example, having a SNR within a few dB(e.g., within about 3 dB) of the level at which call drops wouldtypically occur, one or more of the wake-up periods of the idle moderadio may be skipped to minimize the impact on reception by the activemode radio.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for antenna selection in adual-radio wireless device according to various embodiments of thedisclosure. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 4, the wireless device 200receives GSM and WCDMA signals on the separate antennas 105, 110 (410).

The control unit 170 may determine that the signal received on one ofthe antennas (in this example, the second antenna 110) falls below apredetermined threshold for acceptable reception due to, for example,but not limited to, low signal strength (low RSSI, RSRP, RSCP etc.)and/or decoding failures of BCH or PCH, etc. (420). Low received signalstrength may result from, for example, attenuation at the antenna causedby the position of a user's hand on the wireless device.

If the signal received on one of the antennas (in this example, thesecond antenna 110) falls below a predetermined threshold, the controlunit 170 configures the second switch 215 to disconnect the base bandprocessor (in this example, the WCDMA radio access technology base bandprocessor 165) from the transceiver (in this example, the secondtransceiver, also referred to as the WCDMA transceiver 155) connected tothe blocked antenna 110 (425) and sets the radio access technology baseband processor to idle mode if the radio is not already in idle modewhile the other radio access technology base band processor (in thisexample, the GSM radio access technology base band processor 160)remains in its current mode (430).

During a wakeup period of the WCDMA radio access technology base bandprocessor 165 the control unit 170 configures the second switch 215 todisconnect the transceiver (in this example, the first transceiver, alsoreferred to as the GSM transceiver 150) connected to the viable firstantenna 105 from the GSM radio access technology base band processor 160and connect the WCDMA radio access technology base band processor 165 tothe GSM transceiver 150 (440). The control unit 170 reconfigures the GSMtransceiver 150 to tune away to the appropriate radio access technology,in this example, WCDMA to permit the WCDMA radio access technology baseband processor 165 to receive signals from the WCDMA network (445). Oneof ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the tune away isperformed to the radio access technology of the radio in idle mode.

The WCDMA radio access technology base band processor 165 receivessignals from the WCDMA network on the newly shared antenna usinginformation acquired before the outage, including timing and frequencyoffset observed in the DL signal, RNTI, cell ID etc. At the end of theWCDMA radio access technology base band processor 165 wakeup period, thecontrol unit 170 configures the second switch 215 to disconnect the GSMtransceiver 150 from the WCDMA radio access technology base bandprocessor 165, reconnect the GSM transceiver 150 to the GSM radio accesstechnology base band processor 160, and reconfigures the GSM transceiver150 back to GSM mode, thereby reconnecting the GSM radio accesstechnology base band processor 160 to the viable antenna 105 (450).

While sharing the viable first antenna 105, if the WCDMA radio accesstechnology base band processor 165 receives signals with acceptablesignal quality, i.e., signals having adequate power for reception,during a wakeup period (460-Y), the control unit 170 configures thesecond switch 215 to couple the WCDMA radio access technology base bandprocessor 165 to the WCDMA transceiver 155 to receive on the non-sharedsecond antenna 110 during the next wakeup period (470). If the WCDMAradio access technology base band processor 165 receives signals withacceptable signal quality on the non-shared second antenna 110 duringthe next wakeup period (480-Y), the WCDMA radio access technology baseband processor 165 resumes normal operation on the non-shared secondantenna 110 (490).

Otherwise (480-N), the control unit 170 configures the second switch 215to couple the WCDMA radio access technology base band processor 165 toreceive on the viable first antenna 105 during the next WCDMA radioaccess technology base band processor 165 wakeup period (440) andantenna sharing continues. In some embodiments, if the received signalquality of the active mode radio is marginal, for example, having a SNRwithin a few dB (e.g., within about 3 dB) of the level at which calldrops would typically occur, one or more of the wake-up periods of theidle mode radio may be skipped to minimize the impact on reception bythe active mode radio.

One of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate that while theexample embodiments have been illustrated and described using two radiosand two antennas operating in a particular configuration, the scope ofthe present inventive concept extends to devices having multiple radiosand multiple antennas and/or operating in other configurations.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the protection. The apparatuses, methods, and systems describedherein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Various omissions,substitutions, and/or changes in the form of the example apparatuses,methods, and systems described in this disclosure may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the protection.

The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover suchforms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of theprotection. For example, the example apparatuses, methods, and systemsdisclosed herein can be applied to multi-SIM wireless devicessubscribing to multiple communication networks and/or communicationtechnologies. The various components illustrated in the figures may beimplemented as, for example, but not limited to, software and/orfirmware on a processor, ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware. Also, thefeatures and attributes of the specific example embodiments disclosedabove may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments,all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams areprovided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to requireor imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed inthe order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the artthe order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in anyorder. Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc. are not intendedto limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guidethe reader through the description of the methods. Further, anyreference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using thearticles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting theelement to the singular.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentinvention.

The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logicalblocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspectsdisclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purposeprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) orother programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor maybe a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices,e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration. Alternatively, some steps ormethods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a givenfunction.

In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or moreinstructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium. The steps ofa method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied inprocessor-executable instructions that may reside on a non-transitorycomputer-readable or processor-readable storage medium. Non-transitorycomputer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storagemedia that may be accessed by a computer or a processor. By way ofexample but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable orprocessor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASHmemory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used tostore desired program code in the form of instructions or datastructures and that may be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, asused herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and blu-ray disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also includedwithin the scope of non-transitory computer-readable andprocessor-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method oralgorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/orinstructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage mediumand/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated intoa computer program product.

Although the present disclosure provides certain example embodiments andapplications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of thefeatures and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope ofthis disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure isintended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for antenna selection in a wireless device having a first radio associated with a first radio access technology and a second radio associated with a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, wherein the first and second radios each comprise a base band processor, the method comprising: receiving, through an antenna assigned to the first radio, a signal from a network using the first radio access technology; determining whether the signal received through the antenna assigned to the first radio falls below a predetermined threshold; and in response to determining that the received signal is below the predetermined threshold: setting the first radio in an idle mode; configuring a new receive path associated with the first radio, wherein the new receive path utilizes an antenna assigned to the second radio; detecting a wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology; and selecting the new receive path for receiving signals from the network using the first radio access technology in response to detecting the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: disabling an existing receive path associated with the second radio in response to detecting the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology, wherein the existing receive path utilizes the antenna assigned to the second radio.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein disabling the existing receive path and selecting the new receive path are performed by controlling a switch.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising: detecting an end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology; and disabling the new receive path for receiving signals from the network associated with the first radio access technology in response to detecting the end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: re-establishing the existing receive path associated with the second radio in response to detecting the end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology, wherein the existing receive path is utilized to transmit signals to and receive signals from a network associated with the second radio access technology when the second radio is in an active mode.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the new receive path comprises connecting the base band processor of the first radio to a transceiver of the second radio.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: reconfiguring a transceiver of the second radio to receive signals associated with the first radio access technology in response to detecting the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the new receive path comprises connecting a transceiver of the first radio to the antenna assigned to the second radio.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the new receive path comprises using timing and frequency offset information previously received in the downlink to tune to the network associated with the first radio access technology.
 10. A wireless device, comprising: a first radio comprising a base band processor associated with a first radio access technology; a second radio comprising a base band processor associated with a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology; a processor coupled to the first radio and the second radio, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to: receive, through an antenna assigned to the first radio, a signal from a network using the first radio access technology; determine whether the signal received through the antenna assigned to the first radio falls below a predetermined threshold; and in response to determining that the received signal is below the predetermined threshold: set the first radio in an idle mode; configure a new receive path associated with the first radio, wherein the new receive path utilizes an antenna assigned to the second radio; detect a wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology; and select the new receive path for receiving signals from the network using the first radio access technology in response to detecting the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology.
 11. The wireless device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to: disable an existing receive path associated with the second radio in response to detecting the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology, wherein the existing radio path utilizes the antenna assigned to the second radio.
 12. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to disable the existing receive path and select the new receive path by controlling a switch.
 13. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to: detect an end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology; and disable the new receive path for receiving signals from the network associated with the first radio access technology in response to detecting the end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology.
 14. The wireless device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to: re-establish the existing receive path associated with the second radio in response to detecting the end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology, wherein the existing receive path associated with the second radio is utilized to transmit signals to and receive signals from a network associated with the second radio access technology when the second radio is in an active mode.
 15. The wireless device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to configure the new receive path by connecting the base band processor of the first radio to a transceiver of the second radio.
 16. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to: reconfigure a transceiver of the second radio to receive signals associated with the first radio access technology in response to determining that a wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology has started.
 17. The wireless device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to configure the new receive path by connecting a transceiver of the first radio to the antenna assigned to the second radio.
 18. The wireless device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to select the new receive path using timing and frequency offset information previously received in the downlink to tune to the network associated with the first radio access technology.
 19. A wireless device, comprising: a first radio associated with a first radio access technology and a second radio associated with a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, wherein the first and second radios each comprise a base band processor; means for receiving, through an antenna assigned to the first radio, a signal from a network using the first radio access technology; means for determining whether the signal received through the antenna assigned to the first radio falls below a predetermined threshold; and in response to determining that the received signal is below the predetermined threshold: means for setting the first radio in an idle mode; means for configuring a new receive path associated with the first radio, wherein the new receive path utilizes an antenna assigned to the second radio; means for detecting a wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology; and means for selecting the new receive path for receiving signals from the network using the first radio access technology in response to detecting the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology.
 20. The wireless device of claim 19, further comprising: means for disabling an existing receive path associated with the second radio in response to detecting the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology, wherein the existing receive path utilizes the antenna assigned to the second radio.
 21. The wireless device of claim 20, further comprising: means for detecting an end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology; means for disabling the new receive path for receiving signals from the network associated with the first radio access technology in response to detecting the end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology.
 22. The wireless device of claim 21, further comprising: means for re-establishing the existing receive path associated with the second radio in response to detecting the end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology, wherein the existing receive path is utilized to transmit signals to and receive signals from a network associated with the second radio access technology when the second radio is in an active mode.
 23. The wireless device of claim 19, wherein the means for configuring the new receive path comprises means for connecting the base band processor of the first radio to a transceiver of the second radio.
 24. The wireless device of claim 23, further comprising: means for reconfiguring a transceiver of the second radio to receive signals associated with the first radio access technology in response to detecting the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology.
 25. The wireless device of claim 19, wherein the means for configuring the new receive path comprises means for connecting a transceiver of the first radio to the antenna assigned to the second radio.
 26. The wireless device of claim 19, wherein the means for selecting the new receive path comprises means for using timing and frequency offset information previously received in the downlink to tune to the network associated with the first radio access technology.
 27. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor of a wireless device having a first radio associated with a first radio access technology and a second radio associated with a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology, wherein the first and second radios each comprise a base band processor, to perform operations comprising: receive, through an antenna assigned to the first radio, a signal from a network using the first radio access technology; determining whether the signal received through the antenna assigned to the first radio falls below a predetermined threshold; and in response to determining that the received signal is below the predetermined threshold: setting the first radio in an idle mode; configuring a new receive path associated with the first radio, wherein the new receive path utilizes an antenna assigned to the second radio; determining whether a wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology has started; and selecting the new receive path for receiving signals from the network using the first radio access technology in response to determining that a wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology has started.
 28. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 27, having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor of a wireless device having a first radio associated with a first radio access technology and a second radio associated with a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology to perform operations further comprising: disabling an existing receive path associated with the second radio, wherein the existing receive path utilizes the antenna assigned to the second radio.
 29. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 28, having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor of a wireless device having a first radio associated with a first radio access technology and a second radio associated with a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology to perform operations further comprising: detecting an end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology; and in response to detecting the end of the wakeup period associated with the first radio access technology: disabling the new receive path for receiving signals from the network associated with the first radio access technology; and re-establishing the existing receive path associated with the second radio, wherein the existing receive path associated with the second radio is utilized to transmit signals to and receive signals from a network associated with the second radio access technology when the second radio is in an active mode.
 30. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein configuring the new receive path comprises connecting the base band processor of the first radio to a transceiver of the second radio. 